Hanging on the Telephone
"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee. It was first performed by his short-lived US West Coast power pop trio The Nerves. Contents 1 Background 2 Release history 3 Chart peak positions 4 Cover versions and appearances in other media 5 References 6 External links Background The tune was the lead-off track on The Nerves's 1976 EP, the group's only release. New wave band Blondie later popularised "Hanging on the Telephone", when it released a cover of the song as the second single off Parallel Lines in both the US and UK. The tune eventually reached number 5 in the UK in November 1978, as well as inspired other cover versions. Like one of Blondie's subsequent singles, "Sunday Girl", "Hanging on the Telephone" employs a double backbeat rhythm in its drumming pattern. This percussion style also appeared on other power pop singles from the period, like The Romantics' 1978 release "Tell It to Carrie".4 Release history UK 7" (CHS 2266)1."Hanging on the Telephone" (Jack Lee) – 2:17 2."Will Anything Happen" (Lee) – 2:55 US 7" (CHS 2271)1."Hanging on the Telephone" (Lee) – 2:17 2."Fade Away and Radiate" (Chris Stein) – 3:57 Chart peak positions Chart (1978) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)5 39 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)6 19 Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)7 16 Ireland (IRMA)8 16 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)9 21 Netherlands (Single Top 100)10 20 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)11 43 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)12 5 Cover versions and appearances in other media The Sharp covered the song on their 1993 EP Yeah I Want You. Swedish duo Roxette covered the song during their Crash! Boom! Bang! world tour 94-95. In 1995 a cover version by American grunge band L7 was released on The Jerky Boys Soundtrack. The song has been covered by Alexi Laiho's Finnish extreme power metal band Sinergy on the album To Hell and Back released in 2000. In 2001, Polish rock band Hey released a cover of the song on their studio album. A studio band named Jack covered the song for inclusion in the 2005 edition of the PC game You Don't Know Jack. In 2006, both UK girl band Girls Aloud and Def Leppard released covers of the song, on a limited edition bonus disc to The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits and on Yeah!, respectively. The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 2006 video game True Crime: New York City. A cover of this song appeared on punk rock band Rehasher's 2009 album, High Speed Access to My Brain. In 2009 Jimmy Somerville covered the song on his acoustic album Suddenly Last Summer.13 In 2011, it was covered by The Gamits on a split with Red City Radio. A version by Flowers Forever is played in the 2012 movie Electrick Children, in which a young girl believes she has become pregnant through listening to the song on her cassette recorder. Blondie re-recorded the song for their 2014 compilation album Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux. The compilation was part of a 2-disc set called Blondie 4(0) Ever which included their 10th studio album Ghosts of Download and marked the 40th anniversary of the forming of the band. References Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave? : Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-03470-7. 1.Jump up ^ Cateforis 2011, p. 139. 2.Jump up ^ "The goddess still rocks". The Advocate (780): 57. March 2, 1999. ISSN 0001-8996. 3.Jump up ^ "Certified Awards". BPI. Retrieved June 19, 2014. 4.Jump up ^ Cateforis 2011, pp. 140–141. 5.Jump up ^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 6.Jump up ^ "Ultratop.be – Blondie – Hanging On The Telephone" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 7.Jump up ^ "Radio 2 Top 30 : 16 juni 1979" (in Dutch). Top 30. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 8.Jump up ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hangin' on the Telephone". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 9.Jump up ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 10.Jump up ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Blondie – Hanging On The Telephone" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 11.Jump up ^ "Charts.org.nz – Blondie – Hanging On The Telephone". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 12.Jump up ^ "Archive Chart: 1978-12-02" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved July 28, 2013. 13.Jump up ^ O'Brien, Jon. "Jimmy Somerville Suddenly – Last Summer". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 28, 2013. External links Classic Tracks: Blondie 'Hanging On The Telephone' Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics hide v · t · e Blondie Debbie Harry · Chris Stein · Clem Burke · Leigh Foxx · Matt Katz-Bohen · Tommy Kessler Fred Smith · Billy O'Connor · Gary Valentine · Frank Infante · Nigel Harrison · Kevin Patrick · Jimmy Destri · Paul Carbonara Studio albums Blondie · Plastic Letters · Parallel Lines · Eat to the Beat · Autoamerican · The Hunter · No Exit · The Curse of Blondie · Panic of Girls · Ghosts of Download Compilations The Best of Blondie · The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie · Blonde and Beyond · The Platinum Collection · Denis · Picture This – The Essential Blondie Collection · Atomic: The Very Best of Blondie · Greatest Hits · Greatest Hits: Sight + Sound · Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux Live albums Picture This Live · Live · Live by Request Remix albums Once More into the Bleach · Beautiful: The Remix Album · Remixed Remade Remodeled: The Remix Project Singles Blondie "X Offender" · "In the Flesh" · "Rip Her to Shreds" Plastic Letters "Denis" · "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" Parallel Lines "Picture This" · "I'm Gonna Love You Too" · "Hanging on the Telephone" · "Heart of Glass" · "Sunday Girl" · "One Way or Another" Eat to the Beat "Dreaming" · "Union City Blue" · "The Hardest Part" · "Atomic" American Gigolo soundtrack "Call Me" A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 soundtrack "Rip Her to Shreds" Autoamerican "The Tide Is High" · "Rapture" The Hunter "Island of Lost Souls" · "War Child" No Exit "Maria" · "Nothing Is Real but the Girl" · "No Exit" The Curse of Blondie "Good Boys" Panic of Girls "Mother" · "What I Heard" Ghosts of Download "A Rose by Any Name" · "Sugar on the Side" · "I Want to Drag You Around" · "Make a Way" · "Rave" · "Relax" Videos Eat to the Beat · The Best of Blondie · The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie · Live · Greatesst Video Hits · Live by Request Tours "Tracks Across America Tour 1982" · "No Exit Tour 1998-1999" · "Camp Funtime Tour 2002" · "Road Rage Tour 2006" · "Parallel Lines 30th Anniversary Tour 2008" · "Call Me Invincible Tour (With Pat Benatar) 2009" · "Panic of Girls Tour 2011" · "Blast Off Tour 2013" · "No Principals Tour 2013" Related Articles Discography · New wave music Labels Chrysalis Records · Epic Records · Private Stock Records · Sanctuary Records Group · Eleven Seven Records Bands The Wind in the Willows · The Jazz Passengers Albums and songs American Gigolo soundtrack · A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master soundtrack Wikipedia book Book:Blondie Category:1978 songs Category:1978 singles Category:Blondie (band) songs Category:Chrysalis Records singles Category:Power pop songs Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman Category:Songs about telephones Category:Songs written by Jack Lee (musician)